Sci-fi romance author Jessica E. Subject always delivers fast-moving action and adventure with a sci-fi twist. I first started reading delicious snippets of her work on the weekend excerpt hops and then had to read the books the teasers were drawn from. Jager is book two in her Galactic Defenders series.

What it’s about:

Jager’s new squad of Defenders has completed training, but the spoiled princess who has grated on his nerves since her first day of training is called back to Hemera for a yearly celebration. When Princess Katrina doesn’t show up, Jager must find her and drag her home, where he wishes she would stay.

Katrina is a Defender, not a princess. And there is no way she wants to return to a planet she hates for some stupid ceremony. Not when she could be out killing Erebus with her squad.

But when a new enemy threatens both their lives, they must work together to survive.

Veronica: What were your major influences when writing the book?

Jessica: Many years ago, I had a dream. It involved superhero aliens living on Earth. No, they didn’t wear red and blue spandex outfits, but they did have a hard time fitting in. I developed that dream into a story and then outlined it as an entire series. Only, it didn’t work. The story was all over the place, and I was still learning how to write a proper story back then. But I used many of the same characters in Bryce and Jager. Of course, there are some new characters, alien races and planets as well.

An author friend of mine, Deborah Cooke of the Dragonfire series, read the original story and provided me with a great deal of feedback. As I mentioned, the original story had a lot going on in it, and she gave me many ideas on how to centralize the plot, create an overall theme and develop it into a much richer series. It took quite a bit for me to figure out which direction I wanted to take the story, and I’m very happy with the way I went. I still have the letter she sent as a reminder from where the story and series began.

Of course, any book I read, regardless of the genre, is going to influence my writing. I pick out the aspects I like about the book, whether it be characteristics of the hero/heroine, a new way to describe the world, how much science to include in my romance stories and more. And if there’s an aspect of the story I don’t like, I won’t include it in my stories. Reading has become more than a way to enjoy someone else’s creativity. It’s also research for me now.

All those things came together for me to write Bryce and Jager, and to continue the Galactic Defenders series with Gib and the Tibbar, Jace and many more.

Veronica: Always good to have feedback from a source you trust, who “gets” the genre and can give on-point advice. And it’s encouraging to hear we have more to look forward to in this series. Which was the most difficult character to write and why?

Jessica: When I set out to write Jager, I knew Jager and Katrina inside and out. For me, Faith was the hardest character to write. While only a secondary character in this story, she will play a bigger role in an upcoming Galactic Defenders story. She happens to be a hybrid of a Defender and their enemy, but very child-like. I had to develop her character on the fly, yet ensure she matched the character I needed in the future.

Veronica: I can’t imagine a hybrid of the two, so that will be fascinating to see. What do you do if you get “stuck” while writing a scene in a new book?

Jessica: I’ll often skip ahead to another scene where I know what’s going to happen. Other times, I’ll read to give my mind a break.

Veronica: Do you have a pet who keeps you company while you write?

Jessica: Yes, I have a big, hairy dog named Georgia. (Though we call her Georgie, Georgia Bear and many other things. LOL.)

Georgia, aka Georgie, aka Georgia Bear, aka other stuff.

She’s a Pyrenees Retriever cross who follows me around the house during the day. When I’m in my office, she lies behind me, in front of my bookshelf. And as soon as I leave that room, she’s right on my heels, unless I manage to sneak out when she’s in a deep sleep. Then she’ll come running out to search for me when she wakes. She’s far too big to be a lapdog, but I love having her around.

Veronica: Do you have a favorite short scene you’d like to share with our readers?

Jessica: Sure! In this scene, Jager is searching for Katrina, a member of his squad who has gone missing on Earth …

Fornax! Jager couldn’t walk down a street filled with Terrans. His brow ridge made him different from the beings of this planet. But, if they didn’t notice that or the scar across his face, they would definitely notice his crossbow. While it wasn’t foreign like his plazer, the crossbow wasn’t commonly carried by Terrans living in large populations. He had to find Katrina another way.

Darting through back lots, past abandoned buildings, and across a set of ancient tracks, he reached the target location for Echo squad. No one. But at least one Defender had been there to leave four Erebus on the ground. He kneeled to examine them. Though the bodies had started to rot, each one had a blade wound, a straight cut, not the star-shaped puncture if killed with a zuranium-tipped arrow. Katrina’s kills. But where was she?

Jager activated his wrist com and contacted Naf. “Hey, do you have Katrina with you?”

“Katrina?” The Mingot tilted his head. “Why would she be here? She’s supposed to be on Hemera with her family.”

“Supposed to be.” Jager rolled his eyes. “But it seems she missed her flight and snuck onto your shuttle instead.”

“No.” Naf shook his head. “I would have seen her.”

If only that were true. Then he wouldn’t be hunting for her now. “Bryce contacted me to say she hadn’t arrived. And I saw her sneak off your shuttle after you jumped through the wormhole.”

“Cosmos! Bryce is not going to be happy. His wife will have another reason to hold over his head as to why they should never have let her become a Defender.”

Veronica: Who is your cover artist?

Jessica: My cover artist is Fantasia Frog Designs. I have worked with her since 2011 when she did my second cover with my publisher. I am in awe of her talent and the way she seems to be able to read my mind when I try to describe what I’m hoping for.

Veronica: What’s next for you?

Jessica: I mentioned two of the upcoming Galactic Defenders stories that I’m working on. Gib and the Tibbar will be part of Embrace the Romance, Pets in Space 2 anthology to release in October. It involves characters briefly mentioned in Bryce (Galactic Defenders book one). I’m also working on a futuristic romance involving two space pilots who have just completed serving a term guarding the Mars colonies and are now back on Earth, struggling to find themselves and dealing with how life has changed since they left.

Veronica: What’s on your to-be-read list?

Jessica: There are so many books. Literally hundreds. Maybe thousands. But, here are a few of those already on my virtual or physical bookshelves: Alien Mate by Cara Bristol, Danger in the Stars by Veronica Scott, Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty and Wyvern’s Warrior by Deborah Cooke.

Amazon bestseller Veronica Scott is a seven-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award and has written a number of science-fiction and fantasy romances. Her latest release is Danger in the Stars. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com.